Individual National Consultant to Support the Business and Children’s Rights Project in Viet Nam

Consultant Human Rights Programme & Policy Finance & Economy

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, child rights

Background:

Businesses impact on the lives of children in many ways, including some that a business may not even recognize. Due to the unique rapid physical, mental and emotional development of children, any existing or potential negative impact resulting from a business activity may have irreversible consequences on their growth. Children are stakeholders of businesses – as family members of employees, young workers, consumers and members of the community. Moreover, children are the future employees and business leaders.

A number of human rights instruments on promotion and protection of children rights in business context has been adopted, including Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Some countries are now in the process of developing a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. The most relevant instruments on children’s rights and business are: General Comment no.16 On State obligations regarding the impact of business on children’s rights (2013); Children’s rights and Business Principle (2012).

Under the international framework on children rights and business, states have obligations to consider the impact on children of operations (such as their products and services and their marketing methods and distribution practices – in normal and emergencies contexts), business-related laws and policies and ensure the enforceability of these laws, making sure businesses have responsibility to account for how their business operations impact children’s rights.

Viet Nam initiated its reform economy since 1986. The government has strong policy to attract investment and business operation. Vietnam is a state member of Convention on the Rights of the Child[1] and many other international human rights conventions. During the past years, the government of Vietnam has taken a number of legislative, executive and judicial measures to promote and protect children’s rights. In this context, it is important relevant stakeholders including government, business enterprises and relevant social organizations should respect, protect and work to progressively realize human rights in the context of business.

The Children’s Rights and Business Principles[2] (CRBP) were launched in Viet Nam in 2014 by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, in partnership with Global Compact Network Vietnam (GCNV) (under Vietnam Chambers of Commerce and Industry/VCCI), UNICEF, Save the Children International and key foreign business associations. Mr. Vu Tien Loc, The Chairman & President of VCCI explicitly recognized the CRBP and showed strong commitment to promote the Principles.

As a follow-up to the launch, three key industries, i.e. Footwear and Apparel, Information Communication and Technology (ICT), and Travel and Tourism, were identified to be the first sectors to be guided by the CRBP based on their importance to Viet Nam’s economic growth and their high impacts on children. Assessments were undertaken by UNICEF to identify the impacts of industries, especially travel and tourism and footwear and apparel, on children. A UNICEF pilot programme with footwear and apparel factories was implemented to test and design family friendly workplace policy solutions to be documented, replicated and scaled in partnership with VCCI. A Programme Cooperation Agreement with Office for Business Sustainable Development (SDforB) of the Vietnam Chambers of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) was finalized to implement a three-year project (2018-2021) to promote CRBP among enterprises in Vietnam. Human Rights Institute under the Ho Chi Minh Political academy was engaged to promote General Comment No. 16 and CRBP to relevant government departments and elected bodies.

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[1] Convention on the Rights of the Child, https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text.

[2] The Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) released by UN Global Compact, UNICEF and Save the Children serves as an overall guidance framework for businesses by promoting respect and support for children’s rights in the workplace, marketplace, community and environment. The Principles provide a child rights lens to the global standards on business and human rights, established by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework.

Specific objectives and tasks:

Specific objectives:

- To provide timely technical inputs and review to the Children’s Rights and Business Principles Project with the Vietnam Chambers of Commerce and Industry (until December 2021).

- To technically support the development of a new multi-year project document for continued collaboration with VCCI on children’s rights and business.

- To provide technical inputs on CRB in relevant legislation on business and national action plans.

- To advise programme teams on integrating partnership with business into their programme activities, in consultation with regional and global office.

- In close cooperation with Child Protection section, to support the scaling-up of the holistic IECD parenting programme in the workplace and facilitate capacity building and support to private sector actors on policies to mitigate and remediate cases of child labour, as well as design of other thematic interventions (e.g. breastfeeding in the workplace).

- The consultant will work closely with the SDforB/VCCI, Employers Bureau of VCCI, Human Rights Institute under the Ho Chi Minh Political Academy, the Center for Child Rights and Business (former CCR-CSR), Labour Federation, Representatives of Export Processing Zones, NGOs and business consulting working on child rights with business.

This consultant will be based either in Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh city depending on the situation.

Specific tasks:

- Support SDforB/VCCI to implement the remaining project activities and provide CRB technical review and inputs as required.

- Collaborate with VCCI to develop a new multi-year project document with VCCI.

- Consult with relevant UNICEF programme teams to collect inputs for the programme document with VCCI which serves as an umbrella project for UNICEF to work on Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) both systems/framework approach and thematic scale up of interventions.

- Provide technical inputs to relevant policies/legislation highlighting business impact and engagement on child rights.

- Provide technical inputs for the assessment on National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights and engage in consultations in development of a NAP on Business and Human Rights.

- Provide technical advice to UNICEF programme teams on integrating partnership with business into their programme activities, in consultation with regional and global office.

- In close cooperation with Child Protection section, facilitate collaboration with VCCI and private sector partners to scale up the IECD parenting program in the workplace setting.

- In close cooperation with Child Protection section, facilitate capacity building and support VCCI and private sector actors to integrate child protection policies and mechanisms to prevent, mitigate and remediate cases of child labour. Represent UNICEF in key forums and platforms to promote child rights agenda; be a focal point of the CRBP Working Group of W:NCB project.

- Monitoring and progress reports on implementation of UNICEF’s support and donor reports as required.

- Other technical assistance and tasks that might to be required by UNICEF and partners.

- In close collaboration with Social Policy and Governance section, provide a 4 -page max brief and a power point presentation on the main areas for strategic public advocacy with government and programme priorities in the context of business and children’s rights project in Viet Nam.

Deliverables and Timelines as per the TOR Vacancy Notice for national consultant on CRBP.docx

Management and Reporting:

The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of Chief of Social Policy and Governance. The consultant will operate in close cooperation with other programme sections – Child Protection, Child Survival and Development and Education.

Performance indicators for evaluation:

Indicator for completion and satisfaction measurement will be based on UNICEF Viet Nam own evaluation and judgement, and not that of the Consultant. This means that deliverables will be deemed to be satisfactorily completed by the Supervisor of the Consultancy. The Supervisor is required to provide timely and written feedback to the Consultant in order to avoid miscommunication and hold regular meetings with the Consultant as needed.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Qualification/Specialized Knowledge and Experience:

Education: An advanced degree or equivalent in Humanities, including Development, Economics, CSR, Business Administration or related field.

Work Experience:

- At least 3 years professional work experience in the area of business and human rights/children’s rights, corporate social responsibility, supply chain/value chain management or business sustainability.

- Experience in programme development and management with particular focus on coordination, planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting.

- Experience in coordination, planning and implement of capacity building initiatives.

- Experience of working in the UN or other international development organizations is most preferable.

Competencies:

- Strong communications skills, verbal and written

- Strong networking and negotiation skills

- Ability to contribute to formulation of strategies and policies

- Ability to conduct sound policy analysis.

Language Proficiency: Excellent oral and written Vietnamese and English skills are required.

Assessment criteria:

The ratio between the technical and the financial proposal for this task is 70:30 respectively. Only those proposals that score 60 points on the technical proposal will be shortlisted. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract.

Applications will be evaluated technically and points are attributed based on how well the consultant meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference.

a) Technical Qualification (100 points) weight 70 %:

- At least a master’s degree or equivalent in Humanities, including Development, Economics, CSR, Business Administration or related field (25 points).

- At least 3 years professional work experience in the area of business and human rights/children’s rights, corporate social responsibility, supply chain/value chain management or business sustainability (30 points).

- Experience in programme development and management with particular focus on coordination, planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting (20 points).

- Experience in coordination, planning and implement of capacity building initiatives (15 points).

- Experience of working in the UN or other international development organizations is most preferable (10 points).

b) Financial Proposal (max. 100 points) weight 30 %

The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened/evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 70 points score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview [if needed.]

Submission of applications:

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

1. Letter of interest and confirmation of availability;
2. Technical proposal which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables (preferably less than 2 pages);
3. Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available);
4. Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee, travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment.
5. CV/P11 form (UN Personal History Form) P 11 form.doc

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org